US treasury secretary tells Zelenskyy to be very careful what he says about Starlink
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said it was "very reckless" of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make statements about the US restricting the operation of Starlink and Starshield.
Source: Bessent in an interview with NBC News on Sunday, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Bessent was interviewed immediately after NBC News spoke to Zelenskyy, who discussed intelligence sharing and Starlink, among other things.
The interviewer reminded Bessent that Zelenskyy had told NBC News that the US government had signalled to SpaceX that it should restrict Starlink and Starshield in Ukraine. She asked Bessent to comment on Zelenskyy's remarks in light of the fact that US President Donald Trump has contradicted his account.
Quote from Bessent: "President Trump and Secretary Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump administration did that, and I think it is very reckless for President Zelenskyy to make such a charge."
Details: Asked why the satellite network's performance has deteriorated, Bessent replied: "I don't know anything about that."
Quote from Bessent: "Again, I don't know anything about that. But we've been very clear. And President Zelenskyy should be very careful about making statements like this that aren't true."
Background:
- Trump said on 16 October that the White House had nothing to do with the restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starlink.
- According to The Telegraph, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk approached Trump with the idea of slowing down Starlink operations in Ukraine.
- On 17 October, Zelenskyy said a test conducted by Ukraine in EU countries had confirmed that the restrictions on its use of Starlink were imposed as part of a planned operation.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the Trump administration "had nothing to do with" the restriction of Starlink's operation in Ukraine.
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